Practice
by TheDevilYouDon't
Summary: Hermione helps Harry practice for his date with Cho. OotP. H/Hr. R & R, please.


**Alright, here's another H/Hr fic that I wrote at my grandparent's house. I don't like this one much, but whatever. **

_Practice_

Harry sat down in the common room next to Ron and across from Hermione. His mind felt as though it had been attacked nonstop for an hour, _Which,_ he thought bitterly, _It has._ Leaning his head back, he tried to calm himself down. Ron shifted next to him, trying to finish some last minute homework, and Hermione looked up at him from her _Hogwarts, A History_, though she quickly returned to it.

"How did it go?" Harry heard her ask.

"Terrible," Harry muttered, looking up and rubbing his scar as it twinged painfully. "But, I asked Cho to go to the next Hogsmeade visit with me."

"That's great, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. Ron, who was growing increasingly frustrated, stood, grabbing his bag.

"That is great, Harry. Listen, I've got a womping headache, I'm going to bed. Night." he said, walking up the spiral staircase.

"Night," Harry called, "I'm not even sure if I _want_ to go to Hogsmeade with her. Cho, I mean." he muttered, facing Hermione and still rubbing his forehead.

"Why is that?" Hermione asked.

"Well, what if she wants me to kiss her again? The last time, that didn't go so well." he explained, lowing his arm.

"Nonsense. You just need practice." she said, turning back to the book as though what she had said and how to obtain said practice would be obvious.

"And where do you expect me to get that?" he asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know," she started, looking up at him again. "Me. I mean, I'd be happy to help you." She said this as matter-of-factly as she would have talked about their Charms essay.

"You?" Harry said, shocked that she would even joke about something as such. "Are you serious?"

"Completely," Hermione answered, he expression calm as she stared back at him.

"Er . . . Okay. When do you suggest we . . . practice?" he asked, unsure of how to choose his words.

"How about tomorrow?" Don't worry, I don't mean for us to practice in here." she suggested, reading his expression.

"Okay," Harry muttered. "If you don't mind, I'm going to bed." Standing, he slung his bag around his shoulder and began to walk towards the steps. He waved a hand back at her as he began to climb them, his mind still on everything she had said. By the time he was inside the dormitories, Ron was already asleep, the curtains drawn around his bed. Harry made his way to his own bed, and dressed in silence. Pulling the curtains around, he laid back and tried to empty his mind as Snape had told him to do, but, for some reason, he just couldn't stop thinking about what lay in store for tomorrow.

~~*~~

After dinner the next day, Harry and Hermione left Ron, who had to go to the library to finish the homework he had given up on the previous evening. The two of them headed towards an empty classroom. The first one that they reach, Hermione opened, allowing Harry to enter first, and locked the door behind them. Harry pulled his bag off and set it onto a table near him. Hermione did the same, after which, she walked over to where he was standing.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Er . . . Yeah." Harry answered, feeling butterflies dance in his stomach.

"Okay." Hermione took a step forward, and Harry mimicked her movements, feeling as though he would rather sink into the ground and never come up again than go through with this.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against her's. Although it only lasted for several seconds, the kiss he shared with her was much more pleasing than the kiss with Cho had been. By the time they broke apart, his head was really, his heart was pounding, and his face was flushed.

"That was-" Harry started, not sure of what he _could_ say to Hermione.

"Nice." she finished for him.

"Yeah. Um . . G-Good work." he muttered.

"Do you want to um . . . do it again?" she asked, timidly.

Harry stood straight immediately, eager to kiss her again, although he didn't understand why. "Sure."

~~*~~

When they entered the common room later that evening, Ron was already there, still working on his homework. He looked up as they sat down next to him, staring accusingly. Harry sat stock-still, afraid of what Ron might ask them, and trying to think up answers to every possible question ahead of time.

"Where have you two been?" he demanded.

"Oh, well. We just-" Hermione started.

Picking one of his answers, Harry spoke quickly. "We just went for a stroll around the lake. It's beautiful outside." hesaid. Hermione looked at him, her face blank, although he knew that she was trying to hide her smile.

"Oh. Okay," Ron said, looking automatically happier. "I can't believe how much homework we have."

"I told you not to put it off." Hermione said.

"No, you didn't." Ron pointed out, his eyes not leaving his parchment.

"Well, I shouldn't have to. Look at how many times I already have told you." Hermione smirked in triumph.,

"Shut it Hermione." Ron muttered, accidentally blotting his essay.

~~*~~

On Valentines day, Harry could think of more than twenty things he would rather be doing than going on a date with Cho. In fact, the only thing that he had to look forward to was going to meet Hermione at the Three Broomsticks, but he still had to deal with nothing but Cho before that. The extra time with Hermione had seemed like heaven, and his heart fell when he thought of how he would no longer need the practice.

Their practices had turned from akward to an exciting secret that both of them looked forward to. Although they continued to hide what they were doing from Ron, Harry couldn't help but wonder why. It wasn't wrong what he was doing, and there shouldn't be any reason for Ron to get angry. Perhaps they were hiding it because it might make things between the three of them awkward.

As he walked with Cho to Hogsmeade, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to Hermione. The date with Cho had gone as horribly as Harry had hoped it would. At least now he wouldn't have to deal with her anymore. He couldn't wait to hear Hermione's thoughts on the matter, and when he told her about it, she looked down thoughtfully.

"Then, we did all that practice for nothing." she muttered.

Harry shook his head. "It wasn't for nothing, in fact, it helped me realize something." he told her.

Hermione perked up a bit. "What did it help you realize?" she asked.

"That I like kissing you a lot more than kissing Cho." he explained, grinning.

"You do?" she asked him, clearly surprised.

"Yeah, I do." he said. "In fact, I _really_ want to kiss you again right now."

"But, Harry, people are looking." she pointed out.

"Ah, let 'em look." Harry said, kissing her as she smiled.

**Okay, okay. That's the end. I know, you hated it. Tell me about it.**

**Anyway, I should hand out credit for some things in this story. The conversation between Harry and Hermione after the first time they kissed was the conversation between Sam and Freddie from the iCarly episode iKiss. And the line, "Ah, let 'em look." is from the end of the first Toy Story film when Bo Peep was kissing Woody the Cowboy. Thought I'd give them credit. :D**


End file.
